Last-Minute Changes, News, Reports before Bruins vs Hurricanes

Tonight, the Boston Bruins walk into the building of the Stanley Cup champions. Everyone has the same word for this game, a measuring stick. The Bruins are 9-2-1, the Hurricanes are the only team in the league ahead of them. So when someone asked Marco Sturm if tonight's a test, he said no. I'm going to show you what he said instead, why it's smarter than it sounds, and the four things that decide this game. Here's the exact quote. I'm going for the Stanley Cup champion. And if you notice what he did there, a measuring stick is a test you pass or fail. A target is something you go and take. And according to the Nessun Report, Sturm said teams have always tried to play their best against whoever won the cup, so nothing about tonight is new. And he is right. Carolina does not get any softer because we gave tonight a nickname. Boston is 9-2-1, which is 19 points. Carolina is 9-2-2, which is 20 points. One point separates them at the top of the league. This is why that label exists, but a coach has no use for a label. He has a game plan. On October 6th, the Bruins were 6th in the Atlantic. By October 26th, they were 1st at 9-2. A team that climbs 5 spots in 3 weeks does not need a test. They know what it is. It's another win. And there's another story hiding in this game. Morgan Geeky was drafted by the Hurricanes in 2017, and tonight he's back in the building in a Bruins sweater, and he's ready for this game tonight. Geeky has 9 points in 12 games this season, 1 goal and 8 assists, and has tied for 4th on the Bruins. Plays on the top line with Pavel Zacha and David Pastrňák, and the 8 assists tell you what his job is. Now listen to how he talks about his old team. He said the Bruins know how hard it is to play in Carolina because the Hurricanes are the defending champs for a reason. That's not a man being polite, that's just a man who's seen this team up close. And he said the Bruins have fixed the problems that hurt them early last season with everyone. His words, buying in. Buying in is a coach's favorite phrase, so here's how you check it. You look at the games. Saturday, the Bruins beat San Jose 6-4, they outshot the Sharks 35-27, and Fraser Minton had a goal and an assist. Murat Kuzmenkov put them up 2-1 in the second period for his third goal of the season, off a strong net front work by Morgan Geeky. Now, the part of this game the standings hide is how Boston wins. The Bruins give up eight high-danger shots against per game. Only three teams have less. That's 29th fewest of the 32 teams. Their goalie save percentage of .896 of those against a league average of .804. That's a gap between 9-2-1 and a very different record. Like DiPietro's 0.941 save percentage and a 169 goals against average this season, Jeremy Swayman has a 0.920 save percentage and a 2.20 goals against. So you can say the goalies are the story, or you can say the chances against are the problem, you'll be right there too. Dorochukov has a .916 save percentage and a 170 goals against average. Brandon Bussey sits at an 865 save percentage and a 327 goals against. Here is the first thing to watch. Swayman's confirmed a net for Boston, so his 920 save percentage is the number that matters. Carolina has not confirmed their starter yet, but Kochkov at 916 or Bussey at 865 is a very different night for Boston. The second thing is one man who can give this game a story all by himself. David Pastrnak is one goal from passing Patrice Bergeron for third in franchise goals, and the desk says that's about two games away. He's already passed Brad Marchand for fourth by five. Think about the names in that sentence, Bergeron and Marchand. Pastrnak is not catching a footnote. This season, he has 7 goals and 17 points, the most on the Bruins by 7. He has 42 shots on goal, also the most. Those 7 goals come on 4.6 expected goals, which is 2.4 above the shots that usually produce, so he's running hot. And 3 of his goals came on the power play, the most on the team. And there's a catch. And it's a pretty funny one, because Pastrnak gives the puck away 2.25 times a game. That is bottom 1% in the league. It's a number that almost nobody tracks. And against Carolina, it matters. So given their forwards, because of how good they are and how quickly they can turn things around to the other end. Which brings us to who is up against. Here's the part that should worry Carolina. This is not a one-man team whatsoever. Fraser Martin has five goals and 10 points. That is tied for second on the Bruins behind only Pastrnak 17. He's taken 31 shots on goal, second on the team. So those five goals were not luck. Elias Lindholm also has 10 points and two of his goals came on the power play. Jake Buzzka has 9 points and 4 goals, and James Hagens, the rookie, has 4 goals on 24 shots on goal. Pastrnak and Martin have only taken more. That's 5 guys who have scored at least 4 goals or 9 points. When the top line goes cold, the second and third line are capable of picking up. The money backs the picture too, because Pastrnak is at 11.25 million, Lindholm is at 7.75 million, and Petrka at 7.7 million. So the cap is spread across a group, not parked on just one name. That's what geeky means when he says everyone is buying in. It's not just a slogan. You can see it by who's scoring and who's playing. And it's exactly what you need against a team who's 9-2-2 and only has two losses in regulation. And with these records, which for Carolina's 13 games played and 20 points, Boston's only played 12. So the Bruins have a game in hand on the team they're also chasing. What the Hurricanes answers are, Sebastian Aho leads the Hurricanes with 18 points, seven of them on the goals. Jackson Blake has scored 13. Andrei Svechnikov has 12. Logan Stankoven has a team-high 8 goals and 11 points, so Carolina's not just one star with a lot of passengers. He's got 4 or 5 guys who can go out and score. Charlie McAvoy plays 24 minutes and 44 seconds a night for the Bruins, and he's going to spend a lot of time on that ice against Aho's line. Bruins defense is Zadorov and McAvoy, then Hampus Lindholm and Will Borgen. That's the group that has to keep those 8 chances from becoming 10. And if the Bruins are going to win, that group does it. Without a goalie, having to be perfect. And this is where Sturm's answers start to look like a plan No test, just a game So here's what I'm watching tonight I got four things Number one, the goalie matchup Swayman is in the net against Kachkov at 9-16 It's an even fight And against Bossy at an 8-65 save percentage It's not Two is the high danger chances If Bossy stays under that 8 a game average It's a clean sign that the fixes are real Number three is David Pastrňák One goal for third in franchise history And it could be in a game that means a lot And number four is Morgan Geeky The man who got drafted by their team And now plays on a line that's trying to beat it I want to see him get in the score sheet as well. Now, remember the frame. Sturm did not call it a measuring stick, and he has the right idea. A measuring stick only tells you how far you are. A win closes that gap. If at least two of those four go Boston's way, I like Boston's chances. If it's zero or one, Carolina maybe gets it. If you like what we're doing here, be sure to subscribe to the channel. We're currently sitting at 8,242 subscribers. I'm keeping going with these every single day. So, is it a measuring stick? Sturm says no, and honestly, I like that. I like that quote. And you go win it, your standings are sort of kind of ironing themselves out. So let me know down below what is the biggest sign in this game for you. Is David Pastrňák now continuing to dominate this team? Show the league what he's made of. Is it Fraser Middleton, another big game where he can prove his worth? Morgan Geeky trying to get on the score sheet for more goals as, you know, we're looking at him not scoring up to his pace from the past two seasons. Or is it someone else? This is a McAvoy proving his defense against some of the top NHL forwards. This is Jeremy Swayman in net where we know he has been a true reason this Bruins team is where it is so far in this season with a lot more to come. There is a lot of different things to keep an eye on here in this game, folks, especially looking at where the holes may be with this trade market seemingly opening wide up for this Bruins team, them jumping into a lot of different lists. So, we're going to be keeping an eye on all of that here throughout this game. And like I said earlier, if you guys want to stay up to date with everything going on with this Boston Bruins team, be sure to drop a sub here on the channel. We have a lot of content coming and a lot more just like this. So, be sure to hit that subscribe button. Hit the like button as well. But tonight's game, we're going to have more videos coming out about it surrounding this game. So, you will not want to miss them. That's all I got on this one, though. If you did enjoy it, give it a like. Hit the sub button as well. I'm signing out. Thank you for watching. Hope you have a great day. See you later.